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XIII/1/2022
INTERDISCIPLINARIA ARCHAEOLOGICA
NATURAL SCIENCES IN ARCHAEOLOGY
homepage: http://www.iansa.eu
Book reviews
Volume XII ● Issue 2/2021 ● Pages 81–82
Modern Chemical Analysis in Archaeology,
Part 1
Moderní chemická analýza v archeologii
Petr Bednář, Lukáš Kučera, eds.
Palacký University in Olomouc, Olomouc
(2021), 292 pp., ISBN 978–80–244–5949–3
(online; pdf)
geology, anthropology), but also as a kind
of manual for educating the general public.
The texts are divided into two main
parts. The frst part, in addition to the
introduction to the issue, contains mainly
methodological texts for individual
analyses. The reader will be able to learn
about primary analytical methods – and
it is not only chemical but often physical
methods that are used as a common part of
sample preparation for chemical analysis
(see volumetric or weighing methods),
and which can be performed in a common
laboratory without special equipment. And,
further to that, it is also an introduction to
the issue of methods that are not a standard
part of archaeological research, but whose
use is already becoming quite common in
this area. In the following part, the authors
present methodology that deals mainly with
the specialised workplace of the Palacký
University in Olomouc: this is the analysis
of (bio) macromolecules. Compared to the
previous part, a fairly incomplete part of
the book, this part represents some highly-
specialised reading. This frst section of
the book also includes an introduction
to databases and the documentation of
archaeological fnds. This part can also not
be considered as an analytical chemical
method; however, it certainly does belong
– as an illustration of the situational use
of chemical analysis in archaeology it
is often necessary. Among other things,
it describes how to approach individual
types of fndings. The second part of the
publication, to which I would like to return
later, contains case studies in which the
presented methodology has been applied.
It must be stated that the authors have
taken on a difcult task. It is therefore no
surprise that while reading the texts we can
notice some relatively diferent levels of
quality among the individual chapters, as
well as their overall readability. This does
not refer to the quality of the elaboration
of methodological approaches, but rather
the quality of the presentations of some
of the methodology. Although the book
is written in Czech, this does not have to
mean that, for example, some more up-to-
date international literature could not have
been included in the chapter explaining the
individual terms. Yes, two Czech sources
certainly have a chance to cover the issue,
but, in my view, quoting internationally-
recognised literature would have elevated
the erudition of the introductory chapter.
However, this is the frst part of this kind
of textbook, after which the reader should
be more or less familiar with the basic
chemical methods applicable to solving
archaeometric questions, so we may turn
a blind eye to the many inconsistencies.
I assume that this is probably why the
authors tried to include in the text the
methodology (although sometimes in
a rather harsh direct manner) that is
fundamental, but here somewhat lacking
relevance in the solution of archaeometric
questions as it is basically not used: we
do not fnd it in current publications and
its interpretive power is minimal. This
applies, for example, to the weighing or
measuring methods. Another disadvantage
of the publication is the efort to present
a number of methods in great detail. If the
reader is a humanities student, for example,
the presentation given here – without any
attached instructional pictures – would be
too complicated for them, making the book
too difcult to follow.
This was exactly the view I had from my
frst impressions of the book and seemingly
one shared by others. However, I feel
I ought to make my statement more precise
– just how did this book give me such a frst
impression. Perhaps this may be just the view
of a geoarchaeologist like me, a specialist
who moves in archaeometry? But what of
the view of a student or feld archaeologist?
However, the book has a much broader
scope. Why should it be a bit detached
from the feld of archaeology for a classical
geoarchaeologist or pedologist? This is
probably due to the fact that the presented
analytical methods focus primarily on the
examination of artifacts,
i.e.
, those fndings
once transferred to the laboratory, and the
authors mostly ignore the study of the
lithological content of an archaeological
context,
i.e.
, the sediments, rocks and
The book “Modern Chemical Analysis in
Archaeology” was published by the Palacký
University in Olomouc as an electronic
publication in the Czech language. In
this book, the editors Bednář and Kučera
present their views on the current concept
of the use of chemical and chemical-
physical methods in archaeology with case
studies from around the Czech Republic.
Their view, or more specifcally the view
of the authors of the individual chapters, is
based on long-term cooperation in the feld
of Czech archaeology – and also, therefore,
on methodological approaches that are
either commonly used today or which form
a kind of extension to common methods. It
is apparent from reading the texts that the
authors know the methods well and have
used them in detail. This makes the book
more valuable because it is not just a review
of methods. The book has the potential to
be not only good resource / study material
for university students, both in the felds
of archaeology and others now a common
part of archaeological research (chemistry,
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IANSA 2022 ● XIII/1 ● 81–82
Book Reviews
82
soils. On the other hand, the publication
lacks the physicochemical and related
sedimentological methods that are used to
study formation processes; for example,
the absence of granulometric methods,
magnetic methods or microscopy. And
what about the archaeology student?
It seems to me that the book contains
a lot of intricate detail, but is without the
accompanying graphic illustrations through
which it would be possible to understand
the methodology in more detail. It is not
a criticism as such of archaeology students,
but rather my age-old experience of being
frequently reminded of how diferent and
seemingly incompatible the understanding
of an archaeologist, a humanities-educated
expert, and a natural-science trained person
can be.
The last part of the book, as already
mentioned, mainly represents case studies.
I do not see this part of the publication
as being the happiest. The individual
chapters here have diferent levels of
appropriateness and clarity, but, more
importantly, they have completely diferent
information content and potential than do
the chapters in the frst part of the book.
These are mostly case studies that are
not published elsewhere, and one has to
ask why. Nowadays, the important efort
of most researchers is the “collecting of
points” for publishing scientifc articles:
to “list” an article in a (preferably highly-
ranked) peer-reviewed journal. Not just
because for the “gaining of points”, but if
the study is not published elsewhere, then it
is not reviewed by a specialist for the self-
same issue. So, is its level sufciently good
enough for publication? The reader must
inevitably end up asking these questions.
Leaving aside this viewpoint, I would
like to admit that most of the case studies
presented are very interesting in themselves
and deserve to have been given a more
detailed treatment in an internationally-
recognised journal.
And now to the “awakening” of the
author of this review. As I mentioned
previously, the authors had set themselves
a very difcult task. Readers who like to
always fnd “something” to pick bones with
will always fnd something to complain
about, and there are plenty of those here.
This publication, for which I still have
much respect for, not least because of the
enormous task it has set itself, is not only
intended for students or archaeologists,
who are just starting to orientate themselves
in the many chemical issues, but it is
also intended for chemists who have
been “bred” in classical chemistry, and
have simply not had the chance to orient
themselves within the complexity of geo-
archaeological issues. It is basically a tool
to facilitate a level of communication
between the chemist and the archaeologist:
revealing the potential of each method.
At frst reading, I found it unnecessary to
read some parts, especially the very trivial
methodological details. On the other hand,
when one gives it space, one will have
much greater opportunities to understand
the study of the given context and will
not be limited merely by the dogma of
the commonly-used methodology. The
publication, although it can be blamed
for some of its disadvantages, is not just
a summary of chemical methods that the
reader can use. The authors have tried to
introduce the reader to not only the method
itself, but also to the method of application
in an archaeological context. This is the
place of the handbook that takes the book to
the next level among the food of chemical
publications that an archaeologist can
usually resort to when necessary. I therefore
recommend this book from various points
of view. At the same time, I recommend
that it be read slowly – and that individual
methodological chapters be returned to as
and when necessary.
Lenka Lisá